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Day 4 of antibiotics


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Well we are on day 4 of Augmentin for my son. I know it is a bit early to know for sure if there are changes, but it seems like things are getting better already. On Saturday he had some fruit punch. Usually anything with red dye is a major trigger for tics galore but I didn't see anything. We also watched a DVD, which also is usually a trigger and I didn't see anything then either. I asked him what he thought and he said he feels like there is less, but they are still there. Last night while we were laying in his bed talking before sleep I noticed that he still had some of his usual tics but that the severity was so much less. He'd do it once or twice and stop. Plus the intensity was much less. Like he was doing them softly instead of full force. OCD seems to be less as well but not as dramatically reduced. And I noticed that his emotions are just a bit more even. He got a new Nintendo DS game that he spent a lot of time playing. Usually there is quite a significant rebound effect after he plays. He still was grumpy is you interrupted his play, but afterward I didn't notice the usual increase is defiance and snappiness i usually see. And no increase in tics.

 

He may have just had a good weekend, but usually weekends are not good because he stays up later and eats more crap.

 

Has anyone noticed a correlation between the severity of their symptoms to how quickly the abx work? He seems to be on the mild side compared to so many others. I was wondering if the meds might work a bit more quickly because of that.

 

I'm trying not to read too much into yet, but DH agrees that he seems improved.

 

On another note, I was at a party this weekend and was talking with two different friends I don't see often. Turns out both of their boys have OCD and tics as well. I asked them both if they had ever heard of PANDAS. Neither had. I suggested they get their boys tested for strep. I'm amazed at how little awareness there is about this disorder. I feel like Beth Maloney lately trying to get the word out. Why isn't a strep test the first thing recommended for a child exhibiting OCD symptoms?

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simplygina,

wow, I find that interesting that your friends have kids with tics/ocd as well. When I look around the water cooler at school, I have noticed a few ticcers myself, altho, it always seems less obvious than my son's, probably because my son's is mainly vocal.

 

But as far as doctors knowing about strep, I think it is out there, altho it may deptend on where you live. I know here in NY, I have had experience of our ocd therpist inquiring in our initial visit if my son ever gets strep infections, so he was definitely screening for that. My peds also know about it, so as I said, it may just take a little while for it to kind of spread.

 

Are you trying out antibiotics because of recent strep?

 

Faith

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Some doctors still don't think of testing for strep if the classic strep symptoms aren't there. Or, if they never had a patient with PANADS before, they just may not even think of it. Older doctors not in touch with recent information may not realize what PANDAS is or what to look for. I've come across many pediatric nurses that never heard of PANDAS.

 

As for your timeline with abx....my son seem to continue to worsen for 3 days aftre starting abx, then began to see improvement. I have read others seeing improvement within a day. It's important to remember that not everything will improve at the same time and you will see bumps in recovery, but you shouldn't see dramatic sliding back that he doesn't recover from with a couple of days. If that happens, it's time to look at the treatment or possible infection.

 

With my son's last exacerbation, I thought it was going to be an easier, shorter recovery since I caught the strep infection so fast. Well, he wasn't as bad as excaerbation #2, but recovery still took a long a long time.

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our pediatrician does know about PANDAS. he has treated one other little girl. i think they must have caught it quickly with her and a round of antibiotics did the trick. he told me about her awhile back though. i should ask him if he's had to treat her again since.

 

he hasn't had a recent infection (that I'm aware of). he had his tonsils out last year and since then he hasn't had pharyngitis. he did tend to be rather asymptomatic even before the tonsillectomy though. i could usually just tell by a certain sound change in his voice. since the tonsils are out, he may not get that change anymore. his brother did have strep earlier in the fall and i noticed a marked deterioration in my son. i didn't have him tested for strep then though. we started talking to his doctor about PANDAS a month after that and his throat culture was negative.

 

we started the abx to see if there would be an improvement warranting their continued usage.

 

our first therapist did suggest we get his titers measured i recall. but then she told me that treatment was the same whether it was PANDAS or just OCD so i didn't see the point of making him have a blood draw.

 

we live in Utah and i don't think it is being treated much around here. we have a wonderful children's hospital that is supposed to be very "state of the art" but when i called to make an appointment with a neurologist last Fall, the receptionist told me they don't treat "mental illness" so they could look at the tics but we needed a psychiatrist for the OCD. i ended up canceling the appointment because i knew the ocd and the tics were related and i didn't want to spend a lot of money to have a specialist tell me what i already knew about tics.

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I spoke too soon. He came home from school today rather volatile and was freaking out that some frosting had gotten on his backpack and shoes from a class birthday party. He has also been complaining that he can't be by his brother because of "his nasty breath". Ugh. Hopefully this isn't going to last long.

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